Topeka police are investigating a shooting outside of Dillons at S.W. Huntoon and Lane. Neighbors in the area said they heard several shots fired Sunday evening, and scanner traffic indicated there were multiple injuries.

Topeka police are investigating a shooting outside of Dillons at S.W. Huntoon and Lane. Customers at the store were detained and questioned before being released fromt the area. Neighbors in the area said they heard several shots fired Sunday evening, and scanner traffic indicated there were multiple injuries.

Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor, left, was on scene with other law enforcement officers Sunday night, investigating a shooting outside of Dillons at S.W. Huntoon and Lane. Neighbors in the area said they heard several shots fired Sunday evening, and scanner traffic indicated there were multiple injuries.

Topeka police officers Cpl. David Gogian and Officer Jeff Atherly were killed in the line of duty Sunday evening in central Topeka after exchanging gunfire with a man.

Law enforcement officers are searching for David Edward Tiscareno, 22, of Topeka, calling him “armed and extremely dangerous.”

“There will be a whole lot of law enforcement officers” searching for Tiscareno, said Topeka Police Chief Ron Miller.

Officers were dispatched to Dillons food market, 1400 S.W. Huntoon, at 6:09 p.m. Sunday on a report of a suspicious vehicle.

“Within a couple of minutes, one of the officers reported that shots were fired,” said Kristen Veverka, police spokeswoman. “Two officers suffered life-threatening gunshot wounds and were transported to a hospital for treatment.”

The officers, who suffered head wounds, died at a local hospital, Miller said.

Gogian, 50, was hired Sept. 27, 2004.

“He was quite a guy,” Miller said.

He also said he knew Gogian “quite well” and had recently attended Gogian’s military retirement party. Gogian’s son, Brandon Gogian, is an officer with the police department.

Atherly, 29, was hired April 4, 2011.

“We do know the basics from witnesses at the scene,” Miller said during a 10 p.m. news conference at the Law Enforcement Center, 320 S. Kansas Ave.

However, he declined to comment further because the investigation is ongoing.

Miller said three officers were at the scene, all in separate vehicles. The other officer, who wasn’t identified late Sunday, wasn’t injured.

Multiple people were in the suspicious vehicle. Officers have talked to some of them, Miller said.

The officers “performed marvelously on the scene,” he said.

Miller said he has spoken with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, although the incident isn’t a federal crime.

The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office is the lead investigative unit on the case. Anyone with information should call the sheriff’s office at 368-2200, Topeka police detectives at 368-9400 or Crime Stoppers at 234-0007.

Eva Waszczyseyn, 23, told The Topeka Capital-Journal that she was sitting in her vehicle parked outside of Dillons with her two young boys strapped into car seats when shots rang out.

Waszczyseyn didn’t share details at the request of police officials.

“It’s something your father would describe to you as seeing in war,” she said of the shootings.

Waszczyseyn said she immediately told her boys to get down.

After the shooting, which occurred in the Dillons parking lot, officers were following on tips that led them to the 400 block of S.W. Buchanan, where officers from multiple agencies set up a perimeter around a residence.

A news release stated the suspect vehicle was found at a house in the 400 block of S.W. Buchanan. The house was searched, and the suspect wasn’t located.

The home is on the west side of S.W. Buchanan. At 9:02 p.m., several officers left that area to pursue a suspect at a two-story brick apartment complex at 1255 S.W. Topeka Blvd.

A large number of officers from local agencies, including some SWAT team members, had a staging area across the street from the apartment complex.

Several armed officers were guarding the back door of the apartment building at 10:30 p.m.

A Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter was called in to help search for Tiscareno, who has a known criminal history, Miller said.

At the scene of the shooting, one neighbor said he was in his house when he heard nine shots. While rushing to get dressed, he looked out the window and saw an officer lying on the ground in the Dillons parking lot. Another officer was standing nearby with his hands on his head.

At 6:30 p.m., yellow tape stretched around the exterior of the business and officers were canvassing the neighborhood. Several neighbors were standing outside watching, and employees and customers watched from inside the store.

After about an hour, the customers and employees were allowed to leave, and some were escorted from the area by officers.

One police car responding to the shooting was northbound on S.W Western when it collided with a Kia Sportage at S.W. Huntoon and Western. No injuries were reported.

People who were at Dillons during the shooting were still being ushered from the lobby of police headquarters back to be interviewed by detectives at 8 p.m. The last person to be interviewed was taken back after 9 p.m.

The mood at the LEC was understandably somber as police officials, a few of whom were chaplains, came and went from the building as witnesses awaited questioning.

A candlelight vigil was staged Sunday night outside of the Law Enforcement Center near the memorial honoring previously fallen officers.

At 9 p.m., police officers had both lanes of traffic at S.W. Topeka Boulevard blocked off between S.W. 12th and 13th.

Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor was at the crime scene earlier in the evening.

About 8 p.m., Topeka City Councilwoman Karen Hiller and one of her children walked to the scene. She was briefed by Lt. Ron Gish.

“It’s tragic,” Hiller said. “Whatever happened, they were responding in the line of duty.”

This isn’t the first time Miller has had to deal with a situation where officers have been killed, he said during the news conference.

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I've often wondered why this location remained open while the location on 29th closed. I've only been to this store once, it was enough for me. I'm not trying to judge, but I didn't feel safe. I hope the officers are ok, we don't need anymore lives lost.

I stopped going here some time ago, and then we moved recently. One of the last times we went with our kids, there were some rough characters acting up in the store. Always felt like you were looking back over your shoulder. As a kid, I remember people would clean up nice to go out in public and shop...it seems like part of being social. Not at this store...in fact it was the opposite. One of the few places in town where the ideal of "concealed carry" for protection seemed like a good idea!

My thoughts and prayers go out to the police officers and their families. I hope what ever injuries they recieved are of the type that they can fully recover from.

I've shopped at this store all the time until Mrs. Doubltap started doing all the grocery shopping, and she likes Aldi's. Never had a problem there. But, then again, had anyone GIVEN me a problem, I would have done my best to give them one right back!

that some of you have moved on. I'm sorry to hear that the officers were wounded, and I hope they recover fully. The location of this store is ideal for a population of people that don't have access to transportation to get them to more remote stores. It's a community service, provided by Dillon's to the area that surrounds that store. It's never good for something like this to happen, but it could happen anywhere in this town.

I go to this store because the people INSIDE the store like shopping there. I like the people that work there - there's quite a cast of characters. There's a good mix of 'haves and have-nots' shopping in there, and there's real human interaction in there. People are polite to one another, and there have only been a few times when someone doesn't offer to let me go ahead of them in line, no matter how much or little either of us has to get scanned and bagged. A guy asked me for 75 cents when I came out. No big deal: I handled it and moved on. I LOVE this store, and I will do my weekly shopping there later in the week. I will not be afraid to do that either.

I saw a kid "acting up" in there the other night, and the kid's dad popped him in the head. Kid cried a little bit but straightened up immediately. I was proud of the dad, and was reminded of how my dad treated us when we acted up. The kid was about the rowdiest person I've seen in there in quite some time.

Hope all turns out well. I'll see the "brave folks" in there later this week.

I heard of this shooting while watching the President address the towns people of Newtown Conn on the shooting of 20 innocent little children. When is this madness going to stop.

People, it is time to start taking responsibility for your children. Teach them how to respect others. Stop ignoring them as they act up in public. Start showing them some attention, both good and stern. It is time we start taking a stand and saying we are not going to tollerate this kind of behaviour. Show respect, and you will get respect.

Thank you! You are exactly correct, people NEED this store. Your shopping experiences mesh very closely with mine, always a good experience, never have had a problem, and you are right, it's definitely a good mix.

It was only a matter of time before they started shooting back(criminals) I live accross the street from this scene... I think I will stay at a friends tonight. More of a reason to keep my glock on me, if they are bold enough to shoot cops Im sure an civilian is a peice of cake. Arm yourself!!

People in the neighboorhood need this store . I cant beleive people talk about how unsafe it would be to go there after this. Remind yourselves of the time Chuck E Cheese had gunfire a few years ago, and the time 10 years ago when Mc Donalds out on Wanamaker had a person do a random shooting there. This happens everywhere. Open your eyes people dont think your so safe in your surburbia, it can happen to you too.

They are reported to be searching for the suspect in this case in the 400 block of SW Buchanan, so why has a Blackhawk been circling SOUTHWEST of the downtown area for nearly 3 hours? There are officers with ASSAULT weapons in the area of Huntoon & Topeka Blvd. What is the rest of this story?